We have to change the way the police polices

We have to change the way the police polices
By The Post
Sat 05 Feb. 2011, 04:00 CAT

The revelations made by Inspector General of Police Francis Kabonde to the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs are very worrying.

Kabonde complained that it was challenging for police officers to enforce the Electoral Code of Conduct because of harassment from politicians and that some officers were threatened with dismissals, and this made it difficult for them to perform their duties effectively.

Political use or misuse of the police is a real issue in our country and those in the police service have long been avoiding saying anything real on this issue.

Politicisation of the police has over the years kept on increasing in dimension, occasionally leading to ‘politicisation of criminals’ and ‘criminalisation of politics’.

Sometimes politicisation went to the extent of using the police as a political mouthpiece for those in power.

With the unethical continuation of this malpractice, a nexus of politicians, police and criminals has been created.

Dragging the police into political controversy has led to the deterioration of police image.

Knowing this to be a wrong step and continuing to do it over the years by successive governments was morally inappropriate.

And what is morally wrong cannot be politically right. The need for keeping the police out of politics is, therefore, too urgent to delay.

The role of political leaders and that of the police officers should always be distinct. Political leaders should not take over the operational command of the police.

They will lay down the policy guidelines and the police will execute the decisions within the framework of the law.

The senior police officers will firmly provide correct advice on policy matters. It should be clear as to whose duty is what, who is accountable for what.

A responsible government should lay down transparent policy decisions and monitor its implementation by the police. Ours is a country with politicians in the driving seat.

It should be the duty of every government to enhance the skill, efficiency and professionalism of police.

Politicisation of the police is detrimental to the cause of democracy and damages the basic structure of governance.

The chain of command is bruised and the discipline essential for skilled functioning of police disappears gradually.

Police should be loyal only to lawful orders and obedient to the legal commands. Instead, personal loyalty to the extent of pleasing political bosses overstepping the law of the land brings down the image of police.

Politicians were found to punish the police officials who do not follow their illegal orders.

External political power brokers should not determine the important service matters like transfer and posting of police.

If the career of an efficient honest officer is caused to suffer for doing the right thing simply because it goes against the personal interest of a ruling party member, it sends a damaging message through the rank and file of an organisation.

Selective partisan enforcement of the law is the result of undesirable encroachment and is opposed to the principle of rule of law. Wrongful political intrusion creates an unhealthy environment for our democracy.

Political neutrality and operational autonomy of police tied with accountability is vital for achieving a just society.

Unfortunately, politically-oriented policing got upper-hand over community-oriented policing, resulting in violation of fundamental rights, and widening the gap between the police and citizens.

Growth of professionalism, coupled with strengthening the institutional structure of police is essential to overcoming the evils of politicisation.

Politicisation often leads to witch-hunting. Public perception of police legitimacy badly suffers due to everyday intrusion in police work by people in authority or around it.

Pretended neutrality is the worst form of discrimination.

It is time to put a stop to the gradual deterioration of our police.

De-politicisation is key to the process. Insulation of police from political interference is possible and we hope the government will rise to the occasion and live up to our people’s expectations.

Instead of interfering, the government should ensure transparent and merit-based recruitment, transfer, posting, promotion and all matters affecting the career of an officer.

Lawless law enforcement never enhanced the cause of democracy. Police is what the police does.

If illegitimate political intrusion leads to police disempowerment, the images of the government and that of the police suffer badly.

And the other day, we heard the voice of the Inspector General of our police on this score.

We hope it reaches the ears of the concerned authorities in the government.

We have been too tolerant, as a people, of crimes and abuses of power and this tolerance emboldens the anti-social elements to continue to indulge in criminal activities.

We should all encourage lawful demand for rule of law and cessation of all sorts of undesirable intrusion into and influence on the police and criminal justice system.

Police high-ups have a sacred responsibility to ‘call a spade a spade’ at all times – in the interest of the country they serve.

Use of police to further political objectives by foul means should be a crime.

Political will to resist the temptation of abusing law and lawful authorities for partisan ends should be more openly pronounced and demonstrated.

We can be a great nation, if we become good as a people. As a nation, we should be ready for a meaningful shift in the type of policing, with a view to attaining dignity and justice for all our people, especially the common man.

If not, we are really avoiding saying anything real about these real issues.

Confucius once remarked: “To know what is right and not to do it is the worst cowardice.”

We have to change our ways. We have to change many things. We can’t continue doing things the wrong way and using the wrong methods.

We can’t hang on forever to colonial policing practices that even colonialism would find repugnant today.

We can’t continue using colonial practices for policing a democracy because colonial practices and laws contained no elements of democratic values.

We say this because colonial policing was aimed at control and subjugation of the community; it was aimed to be used as a coercive instrument to keep the community under control.

The need for creation of an environment of security for the public was remote in the minds of the rulers.

Authority and its exercise was the point at issue rather than accountability.

Over the years, we have seen four presidents assuming power in our country. It is difficult to find any one of them who used police primarily in the interest of public service.

The interests of the government and the interests of the ruling party got priority over public interest and in many cases, police was used to serve the interests of individuals. Lack of transparency and accountability has continued in police domain when the society expected them to conform to democratic values.

Accountability is the cornerstone of democratic policing.

Accountability raises the question of policing the police. Sovereignty demands that ultimate accountability lie with the people who pay for police and bear the total cost of running the government.

We should know everything we can about government and the first thing we should know is what we are paying for. It is easy to measure the cost of running the government, but it is not easy to measure the ‘value for money’ especially the benefit that ultimately goes to the community at large. Is there any way of measuring the GDP of police service?

In a democracy, police is expected to be civilian in nature, more decentralised to conform to the local need, transparent in their performance and proactive rather than reactive.

They will work in the interest of public service, facilitate access to justice, maintain healthy contact with the community, follow the principles of rule of law; encourage public participation in policing and adhere to the principles of fundamental rights.

They are also expected to adopt a culture of minimum use of force and avoid torture.

But there are challenges to democratic policing.

And these are many in our country. We still have colonial laws and regulations – even our police stationery still bears colonial descriptions of an individual.

We still have a colonial culture of authoritarianism.

We still use the police for suppression, oppression and repression of political opponents and more protocol orientation than service mentality.

Use and abuse of police since independence was manifested in using police to win an election, to protect the arbitrary authority of the regime in power, to support rule of power instead of rule of law, overstep the law, operate above and beyond the law to suit the desire of the ruling regime, indulge in clandestine acts of oppression and suppression of political opponents, indiscriminate arrest, torture in remand, indulgence in so-called ‘cross-fire’, collection of intelligence regarding political opponents and enjoyment of impunity and political patronage by corruption officials.

This can’t continue.

We have to change the way the police polices.